Sunday, December 07, 2008

Paddler's Atlas of U.S. Rivers West, 1993 (book review).

Paddleboating guidebook provides brief descriptions of 100 river runs in 14 states of western USA.

This small booklet provides brief descriptions for kayaking, rafting & canoeing on 100 river runs spread across 14 states of the western USA (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming). The river runs include a wide range from class I to class V whitewater. The tiny area maps do not provide sufficient detail to locate put-in and take-out areas. Many of the black-and-white photos are too dark to show much detail.

The California-Nevada section includes descriptions of boating runs on SF American River, Klamath River, Tuolumne River, MF Feather River, Trinity River, Owens River, Colorado River, Kern River, Carson River and Owyhee River. These are very fine rivers, including some that are officially designated as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Nevertheless there are many other river runs in California that are as great, if not better, than the ones included in this booklet.

This booklet could be useful to entice more paddleboaters to explore more rivers in more states across the western USA. On the other hand, the booklet covers too wide a range of rivers (class I to class V whitewater) over too wide a geographic area. Every level of whitewater boater will likely be frustrated with the incomplete coverage that this booklet provides. I rate this book as poor (* 1 star out of 5).